The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1887-09-01
CITY LIFE IN RUSSIA.
What an American Tourist Saw IN th,
Capital OF the UkrsinA


Kew is fair type of city life and
architecture in the Ukraine. To the
traveller who crosses the Dnieper and
then turns suddenly round. the town
stands out in full panoramic view. On
the left the verdure-clad slopes Of the
mountain sink beneath the waters
edge and form q rich background to
the gilded spires blue domes, and
white battlemented walls of the con-
vent of the Laura of Petsohersk nest
ling within its embrace A little be-
hind these the deeper-toned sides Of
the ancient fortress guard the town
like . crouchiRg lion. In front the
houses of its maritime and business
sections seem rising out Of the water
itself, and above them the church of
st. Andrew cFests its rock with an air
of conquest, like heavenly citadel of
gold and marble. surmounted by q
cupola and foreated cross sparkling in
the suns rays These, too, are framed
in by perfect forest of domes and
believers rising ono above the other
into the calm blue skies. The narrow
and twisting streets of the town having
disappeared in the disastrous fire of
1911, gave space for such magnificent
modern buildings as the Imperial Pal
ace and the University of Saint Wladi-
mir, and now Kew is one of the most
important commercial ccnters of the
empire. The scene, however, at an
early hour of tho day, in the Krest-
chatik, or chief street Of the city be-
trayed the rough and simple habits Of
the townspeople. Artisans in coarse,
shabby clothes, workmen with dirty
boots, patched trousers and short
coats of sheepskin, torn and
greasy, werc proceeding heavily
to their work. Shop boys in
light tunics were busy taking down
tho shutters, and revealed behind the
counters young women yelled in white
with 8 blue or red kerchief arranged
coquetsishly on the head Some youths,
with the build and dress of Germans,
were drinking cafe au lait and reading
the foreign papers in a eonfectioner'
shop. Stiff and solemn, like northern
gods, the portly drivers, in their As
traksn caps or low-crowned hats, sat
erect on the seat of their little droskies,
drawn by big, strong horses, while
their thick grizzly boards rested on
their blue or dark green caftans-
Through the middle OF tho street,
peasants with bronzed features and
long hair struggling beneath their
sheepskin bonnets over their gray
WOODEN cloaks, drove large hords of
white oxen adorned with fine black
horns bent round over their foreheads.
Monks passed along concealing their
hands within the wide sleeves of their
black robe, and wearing tall, serge
covered hats, the flaps of which hung
down over their necks like the head
dress of the ancient Assyrian priests
Slattern servant-girls in short petticoats
and big clumsy shoes carried empty
baskets in their arms as they passed on,
with loud jokes and laughter, to the
market. The whole scene redolent
with the fumes Of tea and tobacco, the
shops full Of embossed arms, quaint
bracelets and other ornaments and of
various rich and bright colorsd stuffs,
the brilliant metallic hucs Of the fish,
and the fruits and of the birds Of varied
plumage, exposed for sale, all these
bore witness 70 the climate and habits
of life Of Little Ru ;sil.--I Interior.